Read Online Timothy Boggs - Hercules Legendary Joureneys 02 by Serpent's Shadow - Free Book Online

rolled his eyes. "By the gods, will you please be quiet?"
    Suddenly someone raced across the floor and skidded to a halt in front of him, hands on hips, fiercely scowling, and wearing a black patch over one eye. " You be quiet," the rebel squeaked. "You're the prisoner, big boy, not me."
    Hercules looked away before he laughed.
    Iolaus could only gape and stammer.
    The rebel was a woman. Most definitely a woman. Blond hair a-tangle over her brow, large blue eyes— one of them, anyway—and a dirt-smudged pug nose lightly sprayed with freckles.
    Somewhat flustered, Iolaus brushed a lock of hair from his eyes and offered an apologetic smile.
    To Hercules' astonishment, she blushed and stomped away to the table, taking the chair Rotus had used, spinning it around, and sitting on it, her arms draped over the low back.
    "You'll have to forgive Venitia," Rotus said flatly. "She tends to lose her temper a lot."
    Hercules noticed that there were at least two other women in the group, a fact that had evidently not escaped Iolaus' eye either.
    "No problem," Hercules said reasonably. "But I don't think holding us here is going to do you any good."
    "Really? And why not?"
    "We're only judges," he explained. "If we don't show up, they'll only pick someone else in our place."
    "They wouldn't dare," Venitia declared, thumping the table with a fist.
    "Why not?"
    "Because," she answered sharply.
    The other rebels grumbled loudly.
    "Look," Hercules said, concentrating on Rotus, "we don't have anything to do with this Councillor Titus. Or with Themon, for that matter. My friend Iolaus, here, accepted an invitation, and we intend to honor it."
    The grumbling grew louder.
    Patience, he told himself; patience.
    He tried again: "Since you obviously know who we are, you must also know our reputations." He frowned, and the grumbling subsided. "So why not let us go to Themon, do what we promised, and if we find that your complaints are just, maybe then we can lend you a hand."
    "Hey, we're doing all right on our own," Venitia snapped.
    The grumbling grew still louder.
    "Well, of course you are. I didn't say you weren't."
    The grumbling subsided.
    Rotus shook his head. "That all sounds pretty good, but we have our orders, and we know what to do."
    He almost seemed sincere when he added "Sorry."
    Iolaus, who apparently couldn't take his gaze off Venitia, nudged Hercules with an elbow. "What's the big deal about a councillor? He's not a king, is he?"

    "No," Rotus answered as he perched on the edge of the table. "He's a tyrant."
    "You can say that again," Venitia muttered.
    Now Hercules was truly puzzled.
    Although lands were ruled by kings or other nobles, a number of cities were governed, as was Themon, by councils chosen from the ranks of the rich and educated. Which, these days, pretty much amounted to the same thing.
    In times of war, however, when it was clear a strong hand was needed to raise and train an army, the council elected a tyrant to run things. He was a man with sweeping powers whose sole mandate was to protect the city, win the war, and save the people. When the war was over, the parades done, and the booty divided, the tyrant stepped down and the council returned to power.
    Almost always.
    Rotus nodded at the expression on Hercules' face. "That's right. Themon had a war with pirates a long time ago. Titus was elected tyrant, defeated the pirates ,. . and stayed in power."
    "How long?" Hercules asked.
    Rotus closed one eye and stared at the ceiling, sniffed, held up one hand, stared at his fingers, closed the other eye, bowed his head, opened his eyes, and said, "Twenty years, give or take."
    "What?" Iolaus scratched his cheek. "Twenty years? Why hasn't he been replaced?"
    The grumbling modulated to a discontented mumbling.
    Rotus mumbled something himself, and Hercules asked him, politely, to speak up.
    "Because things have been pretty good, that's why," the rebel snarled grudgingly. "Nobody wants to take a chance on changing the